LIVERPOOL MP Jane Kennedy was the victim of a petrol bomb ambush during an Ulster riot, the ECHO can reveal.

LIVERPOOL MP Jane Kennedy was the victim of a petrol bomb ambush during an Ulster riot, the ECHO can reveal.

Ms Kennedy, the Northern Ireland security minister, was in an armoured police riot squad vehicle when it was attacked by a gang of yobs.

The incident happened during the height of the fresh rioting which swept through the province last week.

Today she described the attack - and told how there was no excuse for the violence which is blighting the province.

Her vehicle was in an area considered to be safely behind the police lines on Thursday night and she had police protection squad officers with her.

But rioters spotted the vehicle and crossed the rooftops of local housing blocks and shops before bombarding her vehicle with a petrol bomb and stones.

A security insider said: "It was a sustained and serious attack but the rioters did not know that the minister of state was inside the vehicle.

"She was not the specific target. Everyone was a target that night."

Ms Kennedy lay on the floor of the vehicle while officers doused the flames then whisked her away.

She told the ECHO that the terrifying experience left her "sick and tired."

She added: "It was quite an experience. My fear is that unless those who are engaged in orchestrating these attacks stop and use their influence to halt the violence, then serious injuries will result.

"There is absolutely no justification for the levels of violence we have seen on the streets.

"I am sick of hearing community representatives and politicians trying to justify what's going on by saying this is one community's reaction to another community's violence.

"What I saw last week was nothing short of a murderous attack upon security forces.